Charlie Owen - Thursday, August 04, 2005

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Media Center Add In: Schedule TV Recording via RSS Feed

I'm embarking on a fun project this week. I'm going to start coding a Media Center Add In with the following features...

Background Add In.
Polls RSS feeds according to an OPML file.
Retrieves new posts from those RSS feeds.
Schedules TV recordings based on Click To Record document enclosures in the post.

I've got a couple of reasons...

I want to get back to C# and managed code. HTML + JScript has been fun, but it's SO last decade.
This could be an interesting scenario. We've got podcasts and videoblogs, what about a TVLog...?
This could lead to even more interesting scenarios -- breaking news alerts...?
Perhaps this could lead to a super-simple podcasting downloader?
Exercise our SDK documentation for Media Center Add Ins in order to give feedback to our product team.
Have an ongoing project to discuss here in the blogosphere (to date, most of my posts have been single topics).

I'm off to a great start -- just finished coding an Add In which takes this XML (learn more about the Click To Record Feature)...

<clickToRecord xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:ehome:clicktorecord">
<body>
  <programRecord isRecurring="false">
   <program>
    <key field="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:ehome:epg:program#title">Star Trek: The Next Generation</key>
   </program>
  </programRecord>
</body>
</clickToRecord>

...and schedules a recording of a single show via this C# code in an On Demand Add In (learn more starting at About Media Center Add Ins)...

void IAddInEntryPoint.Launch(AddInHost host)
{
try
{
  string strClickToRecordXML = string.Empty;
  Television objTV = host.Television;
  XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
  xmlDoc.Load("ClickToRecord.c2r");
  strClickToRecordXML = xmlDoc.InnerXml;
  objTV.ScheduleRecording(strClickToRecordXML);
  host.HostControl.Dialog("Completed ScheduleRecording Method Call", "Success", 1, 0, false);
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
  host.HostControl.Dialog(ex.Message,"Exception",1,5,false);
}
}

So, I have a couple of questions for the readers of this blog...

Are there any additional features you might like to see in this Add In?
Do you have pointers to great documentation on consuming RSS in managed code which might be helpful?

Categories: Media Center | Media Center SDK Code Sample | Comments [10] |

| Posted on Thursday, August 04, 2005 5:27:37 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Saturday, July 30, 2005

WiFi GPS via Microsoft Location Finder and MSN Virtual Earth

This seemed pretty cool...

"Microsoft Location Finder is a client-side application that turns a regular WiFi enabled laptop, Tablet or PC into a location determining device without the addition of any separate hardware. When launched by a user, Microsoft Location Finder uses WiFi access points - or reverse IP lookup when WiFi is not available - to center and display the person's location on an MSN Virtual Earth map, enabling the user to quickly and easily search in their present location."

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=B5E8C83A-EA8E-4464-9980-7B6A8DD1013C&displaylang=en

I wonder if the MSN Virtual Earth guys have thought about a Media Center app yet?

Categories: Virtual Earth | Comments [0] |

| Posted on Saturday, July 30, 2005 2:57:52 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Thursday, July 28, 2005

What Platform Features Do You Want for Media Center in Windows Vista?

Make your voice heard to our product team -- leave a comment on this post with your feature requests.

[Don't know what our platform is today...? Check out the Windows XP Media Center Edition Software Development Kit (SDK) for more information.]

P.S. Make sure you read the question carefully, noticing the use of the word 'platform.' I am more than happy to pass along consumer oriented feature requests, but my biggest influence is in the development of third party applications which extend Media Center.

P.S.S. Another way to ask the question: If you were to sit down and write an application for use with remote control and viewed on your TV, what developer features would you want or need?

Categories: Media Center | Media Center Application Design | Windows Vista | Comments [34] |

| Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 5:02:12 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Yet Another Great Reason You Want To Work At Microsoft

We are concluding that time of year at Microsoft where we write our reviews of the past year and ponder our goals and objectives for the next. Several weeks ago my boss (Andrew) and I discussed my focus for this coming year. I put the following on his radar to consider...

I prefer to give up managing people so I can spend more time focusing on my family (to quote: 'I want to be a great feature PM for Ashleigh v1 and Lacie v1 -- they are the only software I will ever personally ship').
I want to focus solely and squarely on our platform for the next version of Media Center on Windows Vista.
I crave designing experiences and writing code to bring them to life. I love showing others 'how to' and getting them excited about the possibilities.

This week Andrew and I pretty much closed on all three -- I won't be managing people starting this coming Monday, get to do nothing but work on Windows Vista starting August 1 and get to write lots of sample code for our next generation platform for Media Center.

Thanks, Andrew, for listening to my heart and helping me achieve my dreams. I'm still pinching myself to see if I wake up from this dream after nearly 6 years -- and it keeps getting better and better.

Categories: Career | Comments [0] |

| Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 4:45:09 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Microsoft Is Dead (Remember Apple In 1997)

I keep hearing folks in the blogosphere talk about how Apple is better and how Microsoft can't ship software.

Then I read Robert Scoble get on a roll here and here talking about the great software Microsoft is shipping today. So far, most of the comments and feedback are negative. Robert must feel lonely.

I remember working at a company with a mixture of Macs, PCs and Sun Sparcs back in 1997. The word around the geek water cooler then was Apple was dead, irrelevant and Microsoft was much better. I remember thinking I should buy Apple stock, since it was trading for less than $5 for most of the year and never peaked above $7. My thoughts were perhaps those few, lonesome souls saying 'Apple still matters' know something I don't.

Alas, I didn't buy.

A $1,000 investment in Apple stock at its maximum price in 1997 ($6.703) would be worth over $6,500 today. The same $1,000 investment at the lowest price in 1997 ($3.422) would be worth over $12,500 today.

According to USA Today, Microsoft stock is trading at 16 times earnings while the average for the software industry is at 24 times earnings. Do I work for a below-average company? I don't think so.

I'm choosing to be lonesome with Scoble this time around.

Categories: Windows Vista | Comments [6] |

| Posted on Saturday, July 23, 2005 9:33:14 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Friday, July 22, 2005

Windows Code Named Longhorn == Windows Vista

I've been running Windows Vista for two months now as my main desktop at work and it's by far the most astounding OS from Microsoft to date. When I shift back to my Tablet running Windows XP suddenly food has no taste and the world is a dreary shade of gray.

I have Media Center running on Windows Vista.

I have Visual Studio 2005 running on Windows Vista.

I'm compiling apps for Media Center on Windows Vista in Visual Studio 2005.

In a nutshell: If you are a developer for Media Center, you ain't seen nothing yet. :-) You're gonna love it...

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/default.mspx

Categories: Media Center | Media Center Application Design | Windows Vista | Comments [6] |

| Posted on Friday, July 22, 2005 7:25:13 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Handy Tip: Run Media Center in Widescreen (16:9) Mode

Do you want to test your extensibility application for widescreen compatibility without a widescreen monitor?

If yes, then...

Click Start --> Run.
Type 'C:\windows\eHome\ehshell.exe /widescreen'.
Click the OK button.
Using the mouse, click the 'Restore Down' button to run Media Center in a window rather than full screen.

Voila, a 16:9 implementation of Media Center.

Categories: Media Center | Media Center Application Design | Media Center SDK Code Sample | Comments [9] |

| Posted on Thursday, July 21, 2005 9:30:41 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Thursday, July 14, 2005

PDC Session Announced: Longhorn Media Center: Developing for the 10-Foot Interface

Go to page 4 at http://commnet.microsoftpdc.com/content/sessions.aspx and you will find this little tidbit...

Longhorn Media Center: Developing for the 10-Foot Interface
Learn about the new extensibility model for building 10-foot (TV oriented) applications and services for the Longhorn Media Center Edition. This session includes integration into the product, design elements, and coding of samples using Avalon.

Hope to see you there!

Categories: Media Center | Comments [3] |

| Posted on Thursday, July 14, 2005 4:57:08 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Jeff Sandquist Is Planning a Geek Dinner / Blogger Meetup in Sammamish

Don't know who Jeff Sandquist is...? Among many other things he is Robert Scobles' boss (do any of us envy him this role????????). Jeff is also largely responsible for Newsgator Media Center Edition (which you can access from the Online Spotlight feature of Windows XP Media Center Edition). Jeff introduced me to Greg Reinacker and convinced me Newsgator was worthy of our time and effort. I hadn't heard of Newsgator at the time, had only recently been introduced to 'the blogosphere' and my cup (actually more of a bucket) was already running over working on some (fairly big name) partners at the time for the launch event.

I'm glad I paused and listened to Jeff and we chose to work with Newsgator. As a result, I now enjoy all Channel9 videos (and a good bit of other *casting content) from the comfort of my couch.

Anywho, Jeff is putting together a blogger meetup. I'll be there, Jeff -- and I'll try to bring a few others along with me.

Categories: Geek Dinner | Media Center | Comments [0] |

| Posted on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 5:38:59 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Michael Owns Up, Gets Help And Is Now A Happy Fella

Update on Michael Earls' travails (see this previous post)...

Sunday: Media Center is now the center of my Entertainment System, once again

Monday: Finally! Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound on Media Center

In summary...